Macau’s economy grew 8% year-on-year in the third quarter, 2.9 percentage points more than in the previous period, after the first drop in two years, it was announced this Friday, 31st.
Between July and September, Macau’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 103.86 billion patacas (11.2 billion euros), said the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC).
In a statement, DSEC highlighted the “continuous increase in service exports, driven by the notable increase in the number of visitors who benefited from both the high season of tourism (summer holidays) and the sustainable development of the tourism branch of economic activity”.
The economic benefit of services – the majority of which come from tourism, the sector that dominates Macau’s economy – rose 10.5%, with DSEC pointing to a 13.6% increase, to almost 10.5 million, in the number of visitors in the third quarter.
DSEC also mentioned the “maintenance of stability in private consumption expenditure in the local market”, which increased by 0.8% year-on-year. Government expenses in the region rose 2.7%.
On the contrary, investment in infrastructure and equipment fell by 26.1%, “due to the decrease in the number of private and public construction works”, said DSEC.
In the third quarter, Macau’s economy already represented 92.6% of the economic volume in the same period in 2019, before the start of the covid-19 pandemic.
Macau’s economy had grown 5.1% in the second quarter, after shrinking 1.3% between January and March, the first drop in the territory’s GDP since the end of 2022.
Mainland China – by far Macau’s main source of visitors – began gradually lifting all restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic precisely in mid-December 2022.
Macau’s economy ended last year growing 8.8%.
On April 10, the University of Macau (UM) revised downwards the forecast for the region’s economic growth, in part due to the potential impact of tariffs imposed by the United States on the confidence of Chinese tourists.
The Macau Study Center and the UM Department of Economics predict that the territory’s GDP will rise by 6.8% in 2025, 1.1 percentage points less than the previous forecast, made in January.
In early March, financial rating agency Fitch predicted that Macau’s economic growth will slow to 6.9% this year, due to a “slower” recovery in tourism and gaming.
“However, a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy, such as substantial US tariff increases, and a sharp devaluation of the yuan [a moeda chinesa] represent negative risks to Macau’s prospects,” said Fitch.